Adults who stutter do not stutter during private speech.

Area of Science:

• Speech and Language Pathology
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Adults who stutter often exhibit reduced or absent stuttering when speaking alone.
• Previous studies struggled to confirm true "alone" conditions, potentially explaining persistent stuttering.
• A novel paradigm was developed to elicit private speech, intended solely for the speaker.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that adults do not stutter during private speech.
• To investigate the role of perceived listeners in stuttering manifestation.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-four adults were audio/video recorded during various speech conditions.
• Conditions included conversational speech, reading, private speech (using deception for perceived solitude), and private speech with transcription for listeners.
• Stuttering events were quantified across all conditions.

Main Results:

• Over 10,000 syllables of private speech showed virtually no stuttering.
• Only 3 out of 24 participants exhibited seven mild, possible stuttering events during private speech.
• Stuttering frequency was comparable across conversational and reading conditions.

Conclusions:

• Adults with stuttering appear not to stutter during private speech.
• The perception of listeners (real or imagined) is critical for stuttering events.
• Future research should explore the roles of social evaluation, self-monitoring, and communicative processes.